Saturday, October 10, 2009

Thursday's game-time temperature at Dodger Stadium: 71 degrees. Today's high in St. Louis: 60 degrees. Today's low: 38 degrees. In other words, the Dodgers can expect a chilly reception at Busch Stadium in more ways than one.

Heavy rains canceled on-field practice yesterday.

While a 2-0 lead over the Cardinals is pretty much a dream come true, a road win is the next big test the Dodgers must pass. And they would prefer not to stay in St. Louis for a second longer than necessary.

With his game-tying hit in Game 2, Ronnie Belliard has officially displaced Orlando Hudson as the Dodgers' starting second baseman. The O-Dog is handling the situation with his usual class: "I'm all right, I'm all right....I'll do whatever they need me to do," he told the Daily News.

Most of the other regular starters have already made offensive playoff contributions: Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have homered, and Casey Blake worked that incredible nine-pitch walk to set up Belliard's Hudson-bumping RBI.

RBI-less so far are James Loney and Manny Ramirez. Will Road Loney make an appearance in St. Louis? Can Manny erase a disappointing regular season with one big postseason swing?

And then there's the question of Vicente Padilla. Whether he's earned the right to start a game before Chad Billingsley is a subject for debate, but the Dodgers have shown that while a spectacular start would be welcome, a solid start will suffice. Fortunately, Padilla has pitched effectively and remained on his best behavior since joining the team, knowing a strong playoff performance will enhance his value as a free agent this off-season.

So there you have it. One game from the NLCS. Momentum on our side. The team feeling loose and confident, but not cocky. Let's give the Cards something to talk about with the Cubs.

Not losing any sleep over Abreu. It was time to cut bait with him. Even if he's halfway decent with the Snakes I'm cool with it. Garland was a worth while deal, and either DeJesus or DeWitt will be our 2B of the future, not DeAbreu.

@Josh - I just looked up Baseball Reference. In 145 AB's, current Dodgers are batting .268 against Smoltz. It's decent, but I wouldn't say it's very overpowering. Besides, of current starters, only Ronnie Belliard and Rafael Furcal have had at least 10 PA's against him.

"Of the teams down 0-2, the Cardinals have the best shot of coming back to win. If they can force a Game 4, they've got a good shot of winning it all. If they can't, then...uh...then...uh...of course they have no shot."

If you'll look closely, you'll see the rare Albert Pujols in the batters box. My, what a creature. You'll notice something very peculiar about this particular Pujols. His BA is under .300, something very uncommon for the mighty Albert.